Influenza, which affects people and animals, is caused by type A influenza viruses, a member of the Orthomyxoviridae family. The viruses are characterized by a considerable antigen variability. Two kinds of the variability are known: antigenic shift and antigenic drift. Type A viruses appear in populations of birds worldwide. They may be pathogenic for some birds and non-pathogenic for others. Infected wild water fowl, migratory and marine birds which show no clinical signs are the largest natural reservoir for all types of influenza viruses and they are the main source of infection for domestic birds and other animals. The influenza is zoonosis. H5N1 influenza virus strain was initially transmitted directly to humans in Asia in 1997. The virus has subsequently appeared at the end of 2003 in Hong Kong and it has been diffused to several countries of Asia. According to WHO, the total number of affected persons in these countries on December 07, 2005 was 137 of which 70 of them died. In 2005 avian influenza was noticed in Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Romania and Turkey. In these countries no infections in humans were observed. According to WHO, FAO and OIE the avian influenza appearing in many Asian countries and expanding to the West is a serious threat for human health.
Human and animals influenza is caused by the virus possessing 8 RNA segments in the genome. The segmented nature is critical structural feature that allows influenza viruses to undergo genetic reassortment. Pigs are important reservoir of influenza viruses because they express two types of receptors in the trachea which can bind swine, human and avian influenza viruses during infection. Therefore reassortation of viruses’ segments from different origin and subtypes can occur and facilitate in this way the generation of the strains with pandemic potential. Pigs can infect human with influenza virus directly which was several times confirmed. However the monitoring of pig care takers health indicate that it happened occasionally. In April 2009 the first cases of influenza, caused by the new strain of influenza type A H1N1, possessing genes of swine origin of unknown combination, occurred in North America. Within few days influenza spread and over 1000 people in 21 countries developed the illness, including 27 deaths. New A H1N1 strain possesses pandemic potency and is transmitted between humans only. Up to now none of the cases reported worldwide have had any direct contact with pigs. More over infected person introduced the mutant into the pig herd which may increase the risk of further reassortation. Data concerning the epidemic of A H1N1 strain are presented in this paper.